Chapter 10 Section 3 Biodiversity

Preserving Habitats and Ecosystems The most effective way to save species is to protect their habitats. Small plots of land for a single population is usually not enough because a species confined to a small area could be wiped out by a single natural disaster. While other species require a large range to find adequate food. Therefore, protecting the habitats of endangered and threatened species often means preserving or managing large areas.

Conservation Strategies Most conservationists now give priority to protecting entire ecosystems rather than individual species. By doing this, we may be able to save most of the species in an ecosystem instead of only the ones that have been identified as endangered. The general public has now begun to understand that Earth’s biosphere depends on all its connected ecosystems.

Legal Protection for Species Many nations have laws and regulations designed to prevent the extinction of species, and those in the United States are among the strongest. For example, in 1973, the U.S. Congress pass the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is designed to protect any plant or animal species in danger of extinction.

U.S. Laws Under the first provision of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must compile a list of all endangered and threatened species in the United States. As of 2012, 1,383 species of plants and animals were listed. The second main provision of the act protects listed species from human harm. The third provision prevents the federal government from carrying out any project that jeopardizes a listed species.

U.S. Laws

Habitat Conservation Plans Battles between environmentalists and developers are widely publicized, and in most cases, compromises are eventually worked out. One form of compromise is a habitat conservation plan. A habitat conservation plan is a land-use plan that attempts to protect threatened or endangered species across a given area by allowing some tradeoffs between harm to the species and additional conservation commitments among cooperating parties.

The Biodiversity Treaty One of the most ambitious efforts to tackle environmental issues on a worldwide scale was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the first Earth Summit. An important result of the Earth Summit was the Biodiversity Treaty. The Biodiversity Treaty is an international agreement aimed at strengthening national control and preservation of biological resources.

The Biodiversity Treaty The treaty’s goal is to preserve biodiversity and ensure the sustainable and fair use of genetic resources in all countries. However, the treaty took several years to be adopted into law by the U.S. government. Some political groups objected to the treaty, especially to the suggestion that economic and trade agreements should take into account any impacts on biodiversity that might result from the agreements.

Balancing Human Needs Attempts to protect species often come into conflict with the interests of the world’s human inhabitants. An endangered species might represent a source of food or income. Or a given species may not seem valuable to those who do not understand the species’ role in an ecosystem. Many conservationists feel than an important part of protecting species is making the value of biodiversity understood by more people.